The Unc-tanical Gardens

[unclefishstick]

ended up sorting through the little cactus.com stuff,i did end up sun scorching a few things so bad that i ended up killing them...lesson learned,glad i did it with the cheap ones!
so after much reflection,which i believe is french for "smoked several bowls and got bored" i ended up repotting the bulk of the smaller ones,mostly by family groups...


mammilaria

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euphorbia

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a new crest i picked up the other day,an inter-genetic hybrid of a lobivia and an echinocereus,already has a flower bud forming..

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various succulents i had in little pots

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Opuntia cylindrica monstrose the opuntias seem to be doing very well as a group..

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[unclefishstick]

got the rest of the main bed planted out with tomatoes and some thai chilis,planted the rest of the tomatoes in the second bed and gave that a top dressing of ewc,kelp....you know,the usual suspects...big ups to the folks a rodale!

also made a mound-ish sort of thing by digging out a spot and dumping in a garbage can of old rootballs,once again mixing in the usual organic stuff and covering it over with a nice deep layer of composted bark mulch,planted some sunflowers for now,will get some cantaloupe going for there as well...

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[unclefishstick]

and as i thought,the cactus blossom from yesterday was a one day event,it has already withdrawn into a bud and a new one has emerged...

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almost done sorting and repotting the cactus,getting everything into at least a terra cotta pot,home despot has some nice pots on sale now,just a bit bulky for the backpack...

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the crazy bunnies are really growing well...

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[Jbomber79]

man is that where you live or just a cactus garden?

 

[unclefishstick]

thats just the cactus garden,the indoor one at any rate,theres another succulent and cactus garden in the yard as well not to mention all the tropical foliage houseplants,some of which have achieved massive size in a short period of time...im looking at putting up several greenhouses and cactus houses in the back yard area,i have some cactus seeds germinating,my first try with that,i want to build a cactus greenhouse specifically for some of the rarer local species that have been all but wiped out in the wild by illegal collecting and a hard freeze we had a few years back...there are seeds available for most of them from reputable dealers so it would be cool to be able to raise enough seedlings to johnny cactus seed them back to their home ranges...old guys need hobbies after all!

 

[s13sr20det]

damn those bunny ears optunias! haha they have got me a couple times!

i just started collecting cacti (since last fall)

 

[unclefishstick]

no kidding,they look so innocent and cuddly right up until a million microscopic glochids are lodged in your skin...i have ruined more than one pair of gloves dealing with those things! spray them down with water if you need to handle them for some reason,and wrap them in newspaper...

mine are growing like crazy,i have a cini-mini as well plus a regular yellow spine that i may plant outside in the cactus garden since i have seen them in other gardens and they cover ground quick...

 

[unclefishstick]

scored a nice big golden barrel cactus today for 21 dollars at home depot...the pot its in along with the medium cost more than the cactus...its about the size of a basketball so i figure somewhere in the 10-15 years old range....right on the edge of being able to plant it in ground here...i might be able to get away with it with good siting and building sort of a solar oven around it with rocks...but i think i will compromise and just bury the pot so it can be taken out for winter...

and of course picked up a few more and repotted some of the older ones..

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[Mr.Fastcast]

That is a good price on the Golden barrel,especially if it is the size of a basketball.Pricey even in my neck of the woods.

 

[unclefishstick]

its a 16 inch pot if that gives you any perspective on the size,its one of the bigger ones i have seen for sale,they had the 3 gallon size for 11 dollars each which is also a good price i thought...i was tempted to grab at least one more and give it a shot in the yard..

 

[Mr.Fastcast]

Ya know,I should go get one,being that it's at the Depot.I've actually wanted one of those for a long time.I think their a nice looking cactus.

Looks like you subconsciously helped me again unc.Thanks for the tip on the sale.I'll go look at them tomorrow.

That is a fricken biggen!

 

[unclefishstick]

its got to be at least 10 years old to be as big as it is,there should be plenty of them around theres sort of a glut of golden barrels on the market right now

 

[hippie_lettuce]

Saw small flowering cacti at a big box store but didn't get any. I did re-pot one of my orchids..have to say, the Oncidium variety is much much easier to care for than the phalaenopsis.

Other than that nothing else is growing in our outdoor garden except garlic. I think our lone cactus is missing the sunshine. It envies your cacti, Unc!

 

[unclefishstick]

some of the cactus are really growing fast for cactus..and its still only april,theres probably still 6 months left i can leave them outside,some of the cactus in the landscaping are really doing well,they really respond quickly to being fed some flowering nutes...

 

[unclefishstick]

speaking of the cactus...almost done repotting everything and sorting out the sunburned from the sun lovers,think i have managed to kill about a half dozen so far this spring,all little cheap ones,easily replaced...i think im about done with the training wheel cactus anyway....especially since i have been talking and buying from the local cactus guy...nice to be able to get locally raised plants and support a local business....but now i really want to build my own cactus greenhouse...


at any rate,the parade of spring blossoms continues.a "peanut cactus" and an echeveria this time...

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[Mr.Fastcast]

These are around my house,Emery barrel ,Grahams nipple and DolleyBelle? Having a hard time finding the last one.The GN I've had for almost twenty years.

 

[unclefishstick]

the middle plant looks like what i would just call an ice plant,the last cactus i would guess some type of ferocactus or one of the barrel types...ever see it flower? it looks to be old enough...the flowers usually are a good clue.

 

[Mr.Fastcast]

I had the tag info at one time, but can't find it now.The tip you speak of is how I found the three(flowers,from memory).

The last one is my newest one.I was looking at the one's that weren't that type(barrel).

The ice one is growing like a weed,it's not even been in the ground that long.

Still enjoying all the pics you post.

 

[unclefishstick]

oh that last cactus may be a young carnegia or a stetsonia....thats exactly why you plant ice plants,they can cover even marginal ground quickly and are drought and cold tolerant...thats mostly what i have been using in the landscaping is native cactus with a few exotics that should be cold tolerant,plus lots of hen and chicks and echeverias and sedums and sempervivum,agaves,hesperaloes and a few yuccas...once its all established...fingers crossed it should only require occasional watering just to keep everything prime...the flower beds will be another matter but i will be sure to mulch the crap out of the beds....

 

[Jbomber79]

Yep Ice plants are the shit nice feedback Unc.